Get to know the story of how the Home Army troops in Ostrów Wielkopolski attacked the Germans, liberated their city on their own and held it until the Soviets came. You surely did not know that the AK in Ostrów captured the German Panther tank and used it in combat!
In Poland, a joke is popular saying that there were no guerrillas in Wielkopolska during the war, because ... Hitler forbade it. This is to be a confirmation of the fact that "decent" Wielkopolanie, brought up during the partitions in the spirit of Prussia, above all obey the orders of the authorities and do what they need to do. Therefore, they do not rebel and do nothing illegal.
It is more true, however, that the people of Wielkopolska take action when there is a chance for a successful outcome. And they confirmed it several times, e.g. during the victorious Greater Poland Uprising. Also during World War II, the inhabitants of Greater Poland fought with arms in hand against the Germans. In 1945, they even started a local uprising in Ostrów Wielkopolski, which was a military success. . We present this story in "Curiosities of History" because it is completely unknown in other regions of Poland.
Aryan province - Warthegau
At the beginning of the occupation, the Germans incorporated the territories of Greater Poland into the Reich, creating "Warthegau", that is, the Warta Country. The living conditions for Poles and Jews in this area were much harder than those in the General Government. Warthegau was supposed to be cleansed of "subhuman" and become a model Aryan province of Germany. The Polish population was to disappear as a result of extermination, displacement and persecution.
Expulsion of Poles from Wielkopolska
As part of the implementation of this plan, the Germans conducted, inter alia, a planned policy of kicking Poles out of their homes and sending them into the unknown. Houses abandoned by Poles were occupied by Germans brought from the Baltic states or Bessarabia. In addition, the occupier limited the rights of Poles in all areas, for example by prohibiting religious practices, car ownership and driving, and even ... fishing. Poles also had to take off their hats when they saw a uniformed German walking and give him a place on the pavement. Did you know about this?
For these reasons, it was very difficult to conduct the underground fight against the occupant, and the structures of the Polish underground state (Poznań District of the Home Army) created in Wielkopolska were constantly broken up by the Germans. The main center of the underground in Wielkopolska was Poznań, but - due to the mentioned mass arrests - from 1941 the command was located in the southern region of Ostrów Wielkopolski . In the opinion of the local Home Army, the transfer of the command to the periphery of the region was to allow it to survive the reprisals of the occupant and to conduct armed struggle. As it turned out, adopting such a solution made sense.
The Germans are escaping! Hit?
In the second half of January 1945, German troops began to withdraw from Greater Poland, pressured by the Red Army coming from the east, implementing the plan of the January offensive, also known as the Wisla-Odra operation. The Home Army in Wielkopolska observed the disintegration of the structures of the occupation power and kept its finger on the pulse, but still had no chance in an open fight with the Germans. Recognition of the situation was also complicated by the severance of communication with the "ground" . For example, Ostrów Wielkopolski has lost contact with Poznań, Jarocin, etc.
The southern part of Greater Poland was at the junction of the attack lines of the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front, which was used by the Germans for their purposes. From the Vistula line, from the vicinity of Kielce and Łódź, the group of General Nehring, pressed by the Soviets, broke through to the west. The goal of the German units, crashed on the Vistula River, was to reach the front line and join their own. Nehring's "wandering cauldron" operated in the area where the front lines were drawn, and Soviet units were the least numerous.
During the retreat of the Germans to the west, the Greater Poland units of the Home Army, although small and poorly armed, intended to fight the Germans, still implementing the assumptions of the "Plan of the Storm", that is, to act as a host against the invading Red Army. These actions were not stopped even by the order of General Leopold Okulicki of January 19, 1945 to dissolve the Home Army. (probably the order has not yet reached the troops in the field - editor's note)
Therefore, in January, small AK units attacked the retreating Germans in Pleszew and Krotoszyn and around Jarocin. They succeeded to liberate Krotoszyn. However, the fights in Ostrów Wielkopolski had the most organized character and the greatest range. For these reasons, it can even be described as an "uprising". According to Edward Serwański, a historian of the underground in Greater Poland, a characteristic feature of the activities in Ostrów was the appointment of temporary authorities inspired by the underground:the Government Delegation for Poland and other underground troops. Such activities, according to the Home Army Headquarters, were to be carried out by local units under the "Plan Storm" . As you know, the biggest appearance of Plan Burza was the Warsaw Uprising, which, however, was unsuccessful. In Ostrów - of course on a much smaller scale - the fight against the occupant ended in victory.
Ostrów under occupation
This was favored by military and geographical conditions. On January 19, when the Red Army captured Łódź, most of the German units from Ostrow marched to the front. Only a few security troops remained in the city:the 386th backup battalion, the SS battalion and the Volkssturm detachment. The Germans began dismantling the technical equipment of the factories, mined bridges, and the evacuation of the German civilian population continued. This motivated the Ostrów underground to act. Just like 27 years earlier - during the Greater Poland Uprising - it was decided that the circumstances are favorable and it is time to attack the Germans.
Alert for Spirit!
It was expected that the occupiers - in the face of defeat - would still shoot the inhabitants of Ostrów. Such executions, still in January 1945, took place in nearby Kalisz. To avoid this, the inhabitants of Ostrów preferred to attack first. The commander of the Home Army inspectorate in Ostrów called "Drwal" warned against premature seizure of weapons, but decided to start the fight. The goal was to liberate the city before the Germans destroyed it and retreated. The commander also recommended that the fighting units should not act - mainly against the Russians - under the name of the "Home Army".
On January 14, an alarm was ordered for the "Spirit" group, 2nd Lt. Bolesław Mock pseudonym Alcohol. His task was, inter alia, bridge clearing. The soldiers of "Spirytus" took their starting positions. The soldiers ready to fight were not uniformed, but had white and red armbands with the letters AK and white and red pennants on their caps. On January 18, patrols were ordered to investigate the situation, incl. at the railway junction, underground weapons warehouses were also opened. The KEDYW cell in Ostrów, numbering 100 soldiers, had two cars, which were armed and set out into the field. On January 21, the Home Army soldiers stopped, fired on and smashed two German motorized patrols heading towards Ostrów along the road from Kalisz.
At noon a "Panther" type tank arrived there and stopped at the Brotherhood of Fowl shooting range. The Germans left the tank in search of fuel, the Home Army soldiers chased them away with fire. The situation was used by the soldiers of the "Lech" Group from Ostrów, who took over the "Panther" and, after filling their tanks, set off to fight. The fact of capturing the "Panther" in Ostrów is unknown even to historians dealing with the Second World War underground.
Pantera type tank on the Eastern Front. Illustrative photo
Meanwhile, it was only the third tank captured by the Home Army and used in combat! The other two were captured by the Zośka battalion, fighting in Wola during the Warsaw Uprising. (it is also known that the third tank was captured in Ochota, but in this case it was not used in combat - editor's note). It should be noted that the "Ostrów Pantera" fought very briefly, but effectively. The insurgents from Ostrów fired 16 missiles from the tank at the incoming headlamps of General Walther Nehring's traveling cauldron. The shelling forced the Germans to withdraw and change the route of penetration, it also caused panic in their troops because they thought they had been attacked by the Russians, and they were not supposed to be in this place yet.
The Ostrów Uprising ...
On January 21, other units of the Home Army operated in Ostrów, including one secured the wagon factory. In the evening, a decision was made to bring a unit of "Spirytus" to the city and to take over the weapons warehouse from the airdrop, which took place in October 1944 near Pleszew (yes - the Greater Poland AK units were also supplied by airdrops). Local forces of the Home Army fought against Wehrmacht units approaching the city, took many German prisoners of war. Cars, motorbikes and weapons were obtained.
The number of underground troops grew. Actions were taken to protect the city from damage, incl. Two road bridges were demined and the power plant was saved from destruction, and one of the platoons cut off the power to the Germans. A recruitment point was also organized in the barracks of the 60th Infantry Regiment. An appeal to the people to be hung in the streets was prepared and printed.
On January 22, the Home Army troops in Ostrów, well armed, incl. with machine guns and grenades, controlled the railway junction and important points in the city. Organized patrols of the Polish Civic Guard and the Volunteer Defense of the City appeared in the streets. Home Army units and scout troops "coming out of the underground" adopted such names for fear of reprisals by the Red Army.
On the night of January 22/23, the Volkssturm seized military facilities. At the same time, Polish combat units were formed in larger plants and factories . At that time, the "Lech" unit managed to clear railway bridges. At night, an independent armored unit of the Red Army from the 25th Panzer Corps reached the city. The Russians engaged in fights with the Volkssturm unit remaining in Ostrów. Supported by the local Home Army platoon, they smashed the Germans and forced them to flee.
Ostrów under occupation
On January 23, the patrol of the "Lech" group crashed another Wehrmacht unit. Another unit on the outskirts of Janków Przygodzki destroyed a German cannon (perhaps a self-propelled gun?), Captured a machine gun and took three Germans prisoner. The unit of "Żak" was catching single retreating Germans on the Wrocław road. In the city of security, there were patrols with white and red armbands on their sleeves , and in the afternoon there was a rally attended by most of the residents. The authorities and local administration were set up - completely independent at this point. In the evening hours, Ostrów Wielkopolski was liberated by the forces of Polish underground troops (mainly the Home Army and other underground groups). Reserve Lieutenant Kazimierz Buda became the commander of the town. On the outskirts of the city, armed patrols of the Home Army were deployed. Such a situation has not happened anywhere else in Poland.
Liberate and hold!
As it turned out, these several-day skirmishes with small units of the retreating Germans were only an introduction to a real fight for the Home Army in Ostrów Wielkopolski. The liberators of the city still had to keep them, because it turned out that on January 24, the main forces of General Nehring's "traveling cauldron" appeared in the suburbs of Ostrów. The most convenient retreat route for the Germans was through the city ... The composition of Nehring's troops included, inter alia, units of the 16th, 17th and 19th Panzer Division, the 20th Panzer Grenadier Division and the staff of the Grossdeustschland Panzer Corps, the crashed units of the Hermann Göring Panzer and Parachute Division and the remnants of the Brandenburg Panzer Grenadier Division. It seemed that now all these units would strike the Ostrów, liberated the day before, where the inhabitants had already hung white and red flags in their windows. The Polish city crew numbered about a thousand armed men.
In this situation, the city commander sent two liaison patrols towards the Soviet units that could be located in the area. One was found in Odolanów and the other in Krotoszyn. Around midnight, the Germans launched an attack on Ostrów from Czekanów, but were repulsed. The Soviet tanks called for help arrived at the last moment. In addition, the news reached the Germans that very strong Soviet units were stationed in the city, but there was a convenient way to get around Piaski and Szczygliczka. Commander Buda agreed with the Soviet commander that his tanks would attack the Germans outside the city. It also happened and in this area the Germans lost a dozen or so tanks (this number seems overstated, the sources are unconfirmed - ed.). Interestingly, the actions of the Soviet tanks were possible thanks to filling their tanks with oil, captured by Polish troops. Without it, help for the city would be impossible, because the Soviet supply units were far behind.
Local Home Army units, supported by Soviet tanks, repelled the attacks of the Germans approaching the city several times. Including at. On the 16th, the attack of six tanks and a Wehrmacht battalion was stopped by the "Lech" facility on the Krotoszyn road. The Poles also took a unit of the Vlasovists prisoner, who were later shot by the Russians. In total, on January 24 and 25, in the fight to maintain the city, the Home Army troops carried out 17 combat actions in various places. It was not until the evening of January 25 that the greater forces of the Red Army entered the city, and Major Alexander Fechkin became the new commander of the city.
On January 26, the Polish city commander ordered the demobilization. Major Fechkin met with the commanders of the units fighting in the city and thanked them for their cooperation, but he ordered the immediate withdrawal of weapons, because the city was still in the zone of frontline operations. It was certainly a demonstration of strength, as well as a harbinger of further strict policy of the USSR towards the whole of Poland.
The fights of the Home Army units in Ostrów were recorded in the post-war German historical materials about the Volkssturm, which stated that the actions of the Polish insurgent units stopped the retreating group of General Nehring.